Datapac Delivers Managed Print Solution for 5000 Students in IT Carlow

Datapac, Ireland’s largest indigenous ICT solutions provider, today announced that it has delivered a managed print solution for the Institute of Technology Carlow across all three of its campuses in Carlow, Wexford and Wicklow. The three year contract is valued at €320,000 for Datapac. The new solution is delivering 55% savings on annual print bills for the Institute. It is also lowering the carbon footprint of the Institute’s 5,000 students and 400 employees.

IT Carlow celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2010 and is at the centre of a number of exciting initiatives for its student population and local businesses. It is also currently working with Waterford IT to create a new multi-campus technological university in the South East of Ireland.

Datapac won a competitive tender to provide an integrated, managed solution which would streamline the entire print process across Carlow IT, enabling improved staff productivity, increased flexibility for students and significantly reducing costs for the Institute.

With the new fully managed print service from Datapac, the Institute is already experiencing cost savings of 55% and the new solution is expected to pay for itself within the first two years.

Datapac replaced a disparate network of standalone printers, copiers and scanners with a fully integrated network of 45 HP multi-functional devices (MFD’s), placed at strategic locations across the campuses. This reduced the total number of machines by half. Datapac now proactively manages the entire print fleet from its world-class managed services centre, ensuring maximum uptime of all devices, with automated ordering of supplies such as ink, toner and paper.

As a result, the Institute’s IT department has seen a 40% reduction in the amount of time needed to manage print devices, freeing staff to focus on more strategic projects.

The reliability of the new devices is already meeting the needs of demanding Institute schedules, particularly during exam times. Increased print speed and better quality output are being enjoyed by all students, lecturers and staff. Print jobs can now be released securely at any device using a password, increasing flexibility for students and reducing waste, backlogs and queues.

Datapac’s new solution is delivering a number of sustainability benefits for the Institute. Scan-to-email capabilities allow students to send and read documents digitally, reducing the need for print. Also, with duplex printing as standard, this is cutting paper usage significantly. The new devices now also power down at night, weekends and Institute holidays, reducing energy consumption.

Fergal Flanagan, ICT manager at IT Carlow said, “With 5,400 students and staff located across three campuses in three counties, our focus has been on improving efficiencies and integrating services for everybody. Datapac’s managed solution meets all of our evolving print requirements, with the added benefit of driving down costs and improving the environment. On top of this, it’s great to work with such a high quality technology provider with a strong local presence in the South East.”

John Jones, managed print services, sales manager, Datapac said, “IT Carlow is really setting the pace in the Irish third level sector through its innovative student programmes and collaboration with local enterprise. Having access to the most advanced digital print technology is extremely important to enable study and research. By partnering with Datapac, IT Carlow gains our 30 years of print experience, a dedicated team of experts overseeing their entire print fleet, and the assurance of having a better and more cost-effective solution in place.”

About IT Carlow

Founded in 1970 the Institute of Technology Carlow has grown to a student population of close to 5,000 with a diverse portfolio of taught programmes to Level 9 (Masters) on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ), a growing research portfolio to doctoral level (Level 10 NFQ) in the Sciences and Technology, and an emerging taught and research platform in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. The drivers for this are contained in the Institutes Mission Statement which is a progressive expression of the prevailing ethos and academic synergy of a 21st century higher level educational institute committed to the philosophy of lifelong learning and the full education of the whole person. Having acted as a catalyst for the generation of over 25,000 graduates to-date, IT Carlow’s current student diversity is reflected in its mix of traditional leaving certificate entrants, a growing European and international student body, an increasing proportion of mature learners, as well as a significant number of evening lifelong learners.

In the provision of its programmes and services, IT Carlow has significant educational and research partnerships and collaborations with national and international industries and higher educational institutions in Europe (approximately 58 European partner institutions across 16 countries), Asia and the US. For example IT Carlow-accredited computing programmes are now being delivered in Henan University of Finance and Economics, PR China.

About Datapac

Datapac is Ireland’s largest indigenous ICT solutions provider, in operation since 1982 with offices in Dublin, Wexford, Cork and Belfast. With more than 6,000 business customers in Ireland, Datapac provides the most comprehensive information technologies, business solutions and IT consumables portfolio in the country.

Datapac’s commitment to customer service excellence, coupled with its extensive end-to-end ICT solutions portfolio ensures its leading position in the Irish enterprise market. Its wide range of technology offerings include unified communications, virtualisation, network infrastructure and managed services solutions. Datapac has achieved the highest level of accreditations from its enterprise technology partners; Microsoft, HP, VMware, Cisco, Citrix, IBM and EMC. It is also the largest distributor of IT consumables in the Irish market.

Datapac’s continued success is based on its unique partnership approach with customers and ongoing commitment to ‘making their life easier’.

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